I am an Assistant Professor of Public Administration at California State University Dominguez HillsCollege of Business Administration and Public Policy and a CREATE Fellow at USC's Homeland Security Center. My dissertation advisers were Adam Rose and Gary Painter. My research has focused on the policy and economics of disasters, particularly environmental and terrorism policy, and the impacts to regional economies and transportation systems. I have worked on a number of projects at the USC Center for Risk and Economic Analysis of Terrorism Events (CREATE) and co-founded Carbon Retirement, an innovative London-based carbon offsets company.

Outstanding Student of the Year 2009, National Center for Metropolitan Transportation Research (METRANS), USC Price School of Public Policy.

USC Price School of Public Policy, Dean’s Certificate of Merit, (GPA 3.98), 2008.

London School of Economics Student Union, Honorary Life Member, 2006.

SERVICE AND PROFESSIONAL MEMBERSHIPS

Editorial Advisory Board member, Transportation Research Part E: Logistics and Transportation Review, 2014-; Reviewer for: Risk Analysis Journal, 2012-2013; Transportation Research Part E: Logistics and Transportation Review, 2013 (Certificate of Excellence in Reviewing); Research in Transportation Business & Management, 2013. Member of Western Regional Science Association, Association for Public Policy Analysis and Management, Western Economics Association.

DISSERTATION TITLE: The Economic and Political Impacts of U.S. Federal Emissions Trading Policy Across Households, Sectors and States

Abstract

This dissertation examines the economic and political impacts of climate policy across U.S. households, sectors and states. This dissertation is motivated by three themes that dominate climate policy: change, inequality, and uncertainty. The impacts of future climate changes are uncertain. Precautionary government intervention can be justified given the potentially catastrophic outcomes of climate change, especially for the most vulnerable communities. However, there is concern that climate policy changes would substantially burden the economy, and inequitably impact the poorest households and regions by reducing income and purchasing power, and by creating more difficult transitions to new green jobs. This dissertation analyzes the economic impacts of a U.S. federal emissions trading policy, a market-based approach used by governments worldwide to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Computable general equilibrium modeling is used to estimate the distributional economic impacts across U.S. household income groups and states. Emissions trading policy can be designed to alleviate regulatory burdens on specific sectors, states, or income brackets; this dissertation compares the economic impacts of numerous policy design options. Uncertainty over climate change has also contributed to an increasingly contentious political debate over policy. This dissertation examines the influence of state-level computable general equilibrium results, and other state-level economic indicators, on Congressional climate policy voting.